Porter Wilkins Carswell Jr. (1904-1986) was the son of Porter Wilkins (1867-1905) and Arabella Walker Carswell (1868-1931) and was a lifelong resident of Burke County, Georgia. His family owned a cotton plantation near Waynesboro, Georgia, named Bellevue, which is said to have been an original land grant from the English crown. In 1980, the Carswell's plantation was the oldest plantation still owned by the original Georgia family. Porter Carswell Jr. was a prominent farmer, civic leader, and politician. He served four terms in the General Assembly. A University of Georgia graduate, Carswell was instrumental in bringing electricity to rural Burke County. He was active in numerous civic and agricultural organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and was a member of the First Methodist Church of Waynesboro. In the 1960s, Carswell was the editor of Waynesboro's weekly newspaper, the True Citizen, and served as a correspondent for the Augusta Chronicle. He also wrote articles for other newspapers, such as the Savannah Morning News Magazine. Porter Carswell Jr. married Elizabeth McMaster Macaulay in New York on June 15, 1932. Elizabeth McMaster Macaulay was the daughter of Dr. Hugh Buchanan (1856-1908) and Rosa Moore McMaster (1875-1964) of Burke County. Dr. McMaster (1856-1908) was the son of Elizabeth Fleming and Hugh B. McMaster and was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina. He was a doctor in Burke County from approximately the 1890s and 1900s. He married Rosa Moore (1875-1964), the daughter of Elizabeth Sandeford and J. W. Shultz Moore. Dr. and Mrs. McMaster had at least three daughters, Rosa Moore, Rachel Buchanan, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth McMaster married Dr. Hugh Angus Macaulay (1885-1931) on September 21, 1916. Dr. Macaulay came to Burke County in 1909 after the death of Dr. McMaster. The Macaulays had two children, Rosa Moore (later Mrs. Stephens E. Maxwell) and Hugh A. After Dr. Macaulay's death, Elizabeth married Porter. The couple had one son, Porter W. Carswell III. Porter Carswell Jr. died in 1986 and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Waynesboro, Georgia. His wife preceded him in death. Mrs. Rosa McMaster was very active in civic organizations. In 1922, she was chairman of production for the Burke County chapter of the American Red Cross. She was a charter member of the Margaret Jones Chapter No. 27 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Waynesboro in 1896, which was only the sixth UDC Chapter in Georgia. She served as president of this group from 1921-1927 and for some time in the 1930s. In the 1920s, she also served the UDC as chairman of the Mrs. Norman V. Randolph Relief Fund for Needy Confederate Women. The Margaret Jones Chapter of the UDC came to a close in the 1980s. She also organized the Edmund Burke Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at her home in Waynesboro in 1924. She served as the first regent of this organization. Mrs. McMaster's daughters were also active in the UDC and DAR. Miss Rachel Buchanan McMaster served as a page at the 1927 DAR Convention in Washington, D.C. Waynesboro is the county seat of Burke County, Georgia. Both are known as the "Bird Dog Capital of the World." Interest in bird dog competition in Waynesboro grew when Dr. Hugh Buchanan McMaster's dog "Count Whitestone II" won the national competition in 1908.
From the description of Carswell family papers, 1861-1963. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 181587591
